Crowdfunding helps Saginaw artists pay to put on plays, record music, make movies

View full sizeCourtney Harge called on crowd funding to help finance her theater company Colloquy Collective's revival of Alice Childress' "Wine in the Wilderness" in Brooklyn.

SAGINAW, MI — Courtney A. Harge didn’t have to wait for box office receipts to find out if her Colloquy Collective had an appreciative audience.

The Saginaw native, a graduate of Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy’s theater program, is just one of the latest to turn to crowdfunding, a concept that dates to the European Renaissance and currently funds everything from CDs and films to books and business start-ups.

As Thomas Township filmmaker Danzell Calhoun discovered, it’s not the proverbial magic goose, laying golden eggs. But when you’ve spent decades in the business, developing an international audience, says Saginaw native Stewart Francke, it can draw enough donations from individual supporters to allow you to take your artistic ambitions to a level once only possible with a major corporate contract.

“It validates the fact that you have an audience out there, willing to put its money where its mouth is,” said Francke, who funded his albums “Heartless World” and “Love Implied” through Kickstarter and is now filming a documentary on his life as an independent artist.

“It’s a gamble. But it gave us the ability to hire the best musicians we could and go to the greatest studios. It gave us financial freedom.”

A portion of the donations goes to the crowd funding host for its role, he said, and success depends in a large part into the time and effort you put into articulating your needs and marketing your fundraising campaign. In return, crowdfunding investors might receive, in Francke’s case, everything from copies of the new album to personal in-home concerts.

View full sizeStewart Francke financed two albums and an upcoming documentary on his life through crowd funding.Courtesy Photo

“For a $5,000 donation, I’ll run around your house naked,” he quipped, breaking into a laugh.

Harge, working through RocketHub, did not reach her target goal of $8,000, she said. But unlike KickStarter, which returns the money to donors if the total amount isn’t received, she was able to put the funds received toward renting the theater and paying her actors for her revival of Alice Childress’ “Wine in the Wilderness.”

And her donors had tickets in hand along with other promotional gifts when it opened its run March 7 in Brooklyn.

“I wanted to establish a theater company that presented existing work which should be more familiar to the community,” said Harge, who continued her studies at the University of Michigan, where she started a theater company, SoYouSay, that continued for six years after she graduated, and Pratt Institute, where she studied arts and cultural management.

And she has since learned the ropes while helping other artists create projects in arts service organizations, most recently with the New York Foundation for the Arts.

“Crowdfunding alters the landscape,” she said. “Things have changed so much in the arts, and you have to look at alternative ways of funding. It’s an excellent marketing tool as well; even those who choose not to give know what you have coming up.

“I’m very excited. It motivates you to do more.”

View full sizeDanzell Calhoun, who is in production with his new film "Pox," didn't find crowd funding a good fit for his project.

Calhoun, whose CinemaStar Productions released the film “Torn” in 2012 and is now going into production with “Pox,” a historical film on a Christmas cease-fire in World War II, said his bid through KickStarter didn’t draw the necessary response.

Even a reach out to local theater departments, offering students the chance to experience a live shoot, went unanswered, he said.

“It’s harder in a small town, when you don’t have a lot of exposure outside of the community,” Calhoun said. “A lot depends, too, on the interest in the film and whether you have a big name involved.

“It’s a rough economy, and while it would be a lot easier for us to have the money in hand, we’re still finding ways to fund it.”

While the Great Lakes Bay Region might not offer the financial support, Harge said, it’s a great place to find your footing.

“I was empowered at a young age at SASA,” she said. “There was a lot of room to learn, and I left there in 2002 confident to try it. And the thing I love about New York City is that anything is possible here.

“I learned soon that acting is a grind, with so many fighting for the same roles. But when you make your own work, when you’re in control, it’s really wonderful.

“Crowdfunding is a tool, a piece of that pie. It made my dreams happen.”